Stories About the President’s Trip to Peoria and Caterpillar

WASHINGTON — Even before the deal was completed in Congress, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said evidence already had turned up that his economic rescue plan would improve the lives of American workers.

Three times during the day, the White House asserted that Caterpillar Inc., the giant maker of construction and other equipment that has recently laid off workers, would be able to rehire employees if Congress approved the stimulus bill.

But as the president prepared for a Thursday trip to visit a Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Ill., it was not clear how strong an example the company would provide of the job-creating powers of the bill.

President Obama chose a Northern Virginia construction site on Wednesday to personalize the stakes of the stimulus plan, saying its passage would give back jobs to laid-off Caterpillar workers.

The company “has announced some 20,000 layoffs in the last few weeks,” Obama said, adding that Chairman and CEO Jim Owens “said that if the [stimulus] passes, his company would be able to rehire some of those employees.”